You don't scare me

September 27, 2006|Michael Petrucelli

One of the funniest food books you're likely to see is "Penn & Teller's How To Play With Your Food." Actually, you may not see it because it appears to be out of print. At least, neither Amazon.com nor barnesandnoble.com list it for sale new, but you can find used copies at those sites and on ebay. The book is full of all kinds of horrible practical jokes you can play with food (like using coffee creamer cups in a diner to pretend to poke your eye out). They demonstrated one of their tricks on a long-ago episode of Regis. The subject was Halloween party food and they made up a Jell-O jack-o-lantern. The gag was they filled a plastic bag with corn syrup and red food coloring and when you use your giant chef's knife to cut the mold (kids love the giant chef's knife. A cleaver works great too), the bag is burst and the pumpkin bleeds. What a hoot. If you use dark corn syrup, that gives the blood an evil, rotted cast. What I want from you is some good spooky food recipes for a Halloween party (and a picture if you've got one). They can be for kids' parties or adult parties. We'll share some of the creepiest ones online and in an upcoming Food section in time for Halloween. E-mail them to me at mpetrucelli@sbtinfo.com or send them to Mike Petrucelli, c/o South Bend Tribune, 225 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN 46626.